


Dear Catastrophe Waitress

by situation_normal



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Ben Solo has a lot of anger, Domestic Violence, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hux is a bastard, One Shot, Past Relationship(s), Pining, Previous Rey/Armitage Hux, Protective Ben Solo, Reylo - Freeform, Soft boy Ben Solo is only soft for Rey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-24 22:30:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16649099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/situation_normal/pseuds/situation_normal
Summary: A year of Ben crushing on pretty waitress Rey.Or: I really wanted an excuse to write Ben beating the shit out of someone. Sorry, Hux fans!





	Dear Catastrophe Waitress

**Author's Note:**

> Moind the tags, my pretties.
> 
> Title from the song of the same name by Belle and Sebastian. Honestly, I've been listening to a lot of Belle and Sebastian at the moment, so this probably won't even be the last one shot inspired by one of their tunes.

January

_TO LET_. The bold lettering on the sign hanging in the window of his favourite artisan bakery could not be less welcome on the first day back at work of the year.

Ben Solo scowled at the darkened window for a moment longer before shoving his hands in the pockets of his heavy black coat and turning in the direction of his office block. No breakfast today, then.

Or maybe not. The greasy spoon on the street corner caught his eye at the exact moment his stomach growled painfully. He crinkled his nose in distaste at the idea, but surely they had toast there. Coffee. Eggs.

The thought made his empty stomach rumble again, and his feet made the decision for him, moving of their own volition towards the run down establishment. _Plutt’s_. Even the name sounded like something he’d find on the bottom of his shoe.

He pushed the door open, and the bell at the top of the doorframe jingled merrily. None of the customers looked up from their food, and he shuffled awkwardly between tables variously occupied by elderly people and workmen with their hi-vis coats hanging over the backs of their chairs.

He found an empty table and sat down on the plastic chair, careful not to put this hands anywhere near the sticky table top which had clearly not been cleaned since it’s last occupant vacated the cafe.

“Girl!” a gratingly unpleasant voice hacked out from the kitchen. “Customer!”

The “girl” turned out to be a pretty young woman with her hair in three buns. She looked utterly exhausted as she made her way over to his table, but she managed to weave her way between the tables with ease, smiling sweetly at anyone who caught her eye.

She didn’t look at Ben when she got to his table, instead, pulling a spray bottle and a cloth out of her apron pocket and cleaning the table with a brief apology.

Once she’d stowed her cleaning materials back into her pocket, she pulled out a note pad and pencil, and finally looked up at him expectantly. “What can I get for you, sweetheart?” she asked brightly.

Well, shit.

February

Ben sat down at his usual table and opened the news app on his phone, pretending to read in what he imagined was probably a feeble attempt to make himself look busy.

Today. He would do it today. Today he would definitely, definitely ask her out. It was Valentine’s day for crap’s sake. Then maybe he could stop himself from coming to this shit-hole every morning.

“Girl!” Ben flinched, even though that sack of lard's voice had become somewhat familiar over the past month and a half. “Customer!”

“I heard the fucking bell, Unkar,” she snapped.

Ben stilled. This was different. He watched as she approached, the circles under her eyes darker than ever, and her brow puckered in apparent consternation.

She got to his table and smiled softly at him—wearily. “What can I get for you, sweetheart? The usual?”

“Uh—Yeah, yes. Please.” He hesitated for a moment. Was this really the right time? She looked run off her feet. “So, happy Valentine’s day, you seem kind of tired; boyfriend troubles?” _Please say no._

She looked up from her notebook, holding his gaze for a moment as she processed his words. She blinked at him, as if she was looking at him properly for the first time. “Oh... sorry, I’m not that tired. And, yeah, I guess it is something like that. Thanks for asking, I’m fine.”

 _Something like that._ Well. Maybe it wouldn’t be today, then.

March

_I come in here every day because your smile gets me through the day._

No. Definitely not. That was one way to make sure she never smiled at him again. And potentially a quick way to a restraining order.

“Girl!”

“Already on it!” she high fived an old dude on her way to Ben’s table. God, she was cute. “Hey, Ben. The usual?”

“Yes, please. Thanks, Rey,” he said. They were on first name terms. One step at a time, Solo.

April

She had her phone pressed to her ear today as she placed the coffee and eggs down in front of him without waiting for him to order.

“I know, Armitage, but I’m working three jobs already, and I can’t afford to move out yet. I swear I’m doing my best to save, but you need to cut my half of the rent if I’m ever gonna be able to save enough for a deposit,” she griped, offering Ben an apologetic smile and rolling her eyes.

Ben smiled weakly back at her. Was she in trouble? He could help her. So easily. He had more money than he knew what to do with.

A snarky voice snapped something unpleasant back at her, he could hear it from where he was sitting. Rey cringed. Ben bristled.

“I'm at work right now, I have to go. We'll talk about this at home later,” she mumbled, turning away from Ben in an attempt to keep the conversation a little more private. She hung up the phone and dropped it in the pocket of her apron.

“Rey,” he said, getting up from his seat to follow her.

She turned to face him, her eyebrows raised. “Sorry, did I forget something?”

“Uh—” _Shit_. It’s not like they're actually friends. He knew he was doing that thing that people who worked in the service industry complained about. He was taking her professional friendly manner and making it something else. _Because you’re a lonely bastard._ “Nothing.”

May

It was a hot day, and Rey had a bruise on her arm like someone grabbed her. Ben hated it.

He ground his teeth as she set his coffee and breakfast down in front of him, waving the imprints of some asshole’s fingers on her arm in front of his eyes.

“Rey...”

“Mmhmm?” she replied absently, rearranging the salt and pepper shakers on the next table.

He can’t _not_ say something this time. “Is everything... okay? At home?”

She looked at him again with that same slightly bewildered expression he recognised from months ago. “Why do you care?”

The question wasn’t asked harshly, she seemed genuinely curious to hear his answer.

Ben rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “I mean... I just wanted you to know that I’m here. If you’re in trouble, I mean. I can help you. You don’t have to deal with anything alone.”

She stared at him blankly for a few more uncomfortable seconds. “But... we’re not even friends.”

Ouch. Still, he wasn’t gonna let this slide without making sure she was safe. “I’m sorry, this is weird. You must think I’m such a creep right now but—”

“Shall we talk outside?” she offered, glancing around at the increasingly curious patrons at the other tables.

He nodded gratefully and followed her out of a side door. She instantly pulled a packet of cigarettes out of her pocket and offered him one. He hadn’t smoked in five years, but now seemed like a pretty good time to take it up again.

They stood in silence for a few minutes before she finally rounded on him with a raised eyebrow. “So, what’s this creepy thing you wanted to say to me?”

Ben took a final long drag on his smoke and dropped it on the floor, crushing it under his shoe as he exhaled. “Your arm.”

She flushed and uselessly pulled at her cap sleeve to hide the bruising. “What about it?”

“Someone's hurting you.”

“I can take care of myself. He got a black eye for this, and he won’t be in a hurry to get another.”

Ben ran a hand through his hair and focused on steadying his breathing. “Rey, you shouldn’t have to give a guy a black eye to stop him from hurting you. If you’re in a bad situation, I can help you out.”

“I don’t need your pity, Ben. The last thing I need right now is another rich boy thinking he can swoop into my life and take control. Thank you for your concern, now kindly fuck off. I have a busy day and you’ve just taken up my only break.” She dropped her cigarette in the gutter and stomped back into the cafe.

“It's not pity...” he mumbled to her retreating back.

“See you tomorrow,” she yelled, her voice still tinged with anger.

June

Rey sat with him on her break again, sipping at a lukewarm cup of coffee between idle chatter about her favourite TV shows, her other jobs, his job, his favourite books, her family—or lack thereof—his family, the new branch of his favourite artisan bakery that was opening up across the street.

Ben was getting in later and later for work every morning, and he didn’t even care. Ever since she'd told him to fuck off, she'd taken up the habit of spending her break with him.

They’d sit at his table while she nursed her coffee, and then they’d go out and have a smoke, and Ben would go off to work with a full belly and a grin on his face.

“Girl!” the less than human sack of crap that Rey called ‘Unkar’ barked from the kitchen. “Customer!”

Ben hadn’t even heard the bell ring.

“I'm on a break!” Rey called, her laughing eyes never leaving Ben’s.

“I can see you are, you little fucking tart. This is what you work so hard doing in your _three jobs_ is it?”

Ben looked up as Rey swivelled in her seat to see a pasty red-headed weasel of a man sneering at them behind her.

“What the fuck did you just say?” Ben snarled, pushing his chair back and jumping to his feet.

Rey stood between them, suddenly stricken. “Ben, sit down, and calm the fuck down. Armitage, outside. Now.”

“Why leave your new boyfriend in here? Don’t want him to hear all the bullshit you’re putting me through? You still live with _me!”_

“He’s just a customer. I’m on my break. And just because we live together, doesn’t mean I owe you these explanations; we’ve been done for a long time,” Rey said, pacing over to the glass front fridge and grabbing two cans of Coke out of it.

She passed one to _Armitage_ —stupid fucking douchebag name for a douchebag—and nodded in the direction of the front door.

Ben glared at them through the glass storefront as their conversation became more heated; that bastard was raising his voice at her, and Ben was just about ready to go out there and beat the living shit out of him, when his train of thought was interrupted by an elderly woman at the table next to him.

“You should probably go out there, this is when it’s finally gonna happen for you, I can tell,” she said, giving him a sly wink.

Another woman leaned across the table, setting her knitting to one side. “Don’t listen to her, she’s just saying that because we have a pool going as to when you two will finally get together, and she picked today.”

“I'm sorry, what?” Ben asked.

“Don’t tell him that, Kate, you’ll scare him off!” a third woman piped up, smiling kindly at him. “We all wish you the best, dear.”

Ben eyed the women for a moment, completely baffled by their conversation, then shrugged, turning away from them to return his attention to the situation outside.

He couldn’t hear what they were saying, dammit, but judging by the ugly shade of puce that dickhead boy’s face had turned, they weren’t exchanging pleasantries. He shifted in his seat, ready to go out there and intervene.

_He’s just a customer._

He stopped himself. The last thing he wanted was to jump in there and cause her any more trouble. She was the one who had to actually live with this piece of shit.

Then time seemed to slow down as he watched Armitage swing his arm around and smack Rey hard across the cheek with his unopened drink can.

His ears were ringing. He didn't even register that he was moving before he was out of the door and pinning that ginger bastard on the ground, pummelling his pinched face into the concrete paving slabs with his fist.

“Ben! Stop!!”

He finally noticed Rey yanking on his elbow to pull him away—probably to stop him before he killed the guy. He sat back on his heels and looked over at Rey. Her face was bleeding. _Fuck_.

Nothing like the mess he’d made of her boyfriend’s face. The weaselly cunt groaned weakly and lifted himself up onto his elbows to glare at Ben. He spat a tooth onto the ground next to him. “You fucking psycho,” he slurred. “Her pussy's not worth going to prison for.”

Ben clenched his jaw and got to his feet, brushing his messy hands on his suit jacket. He probably wasn’t going to make it to work today.

“Ben... you should probably go home,” she murmured, avoiding his eye.

“I wrecked it, didn’t I?” Ben said softly. “You don’t wanna be friends anymore.”

Armitage snorted and burst out laughing from where he was still lying on the ground. “Oh my fucking god, this is unbelieva—"

Ben cut him off with a, frankly, heroically restrained kick to the stomach.

Unkar Plutt stuck his head out of the door. “Girl! Tell your boyfriend he’s not welcome in here anymore.”

Ben and Armitage exchanged a glance, then looked up at Rey. She was staring at Ben, was that pity in her eyes? He suddenly understood why Rey had hated it when she’d thought he pitied her.

“I mean both of you idiots. I don’t need this trouble. Now piss off before I call the police,” Plutt growled, letting the door close as he ducked back inside.

“Wait!” Armitage yelled. “Call the fucking police, you oaf!”

July

“Benjamin Solo, get your ass off of that damn computer and go help your father in the yard!” his mother yelled through his closed bedroom door.

He’d lost his job. Moved back in with his parents. At least he’d managed to avoid jail time thanks to an old buddy of his father.

“I'm working on my novel, mom,” he grumbled.

“You can do that when it’s dark out! Go cut the grass!”

Ben closed his laptop and hauled himself to his feet, trudging out the door. He paused briefly to give his mom a kiss on the top of her head. He could hear his father having an argument with the lawnmower in the back yard.

Time moved slowly. He missed Rey. He hated this.

August

“Your friend is doing well, she’s registered for college now—and no, before you ask, she still doesn’t know you’re my son,” Leia said primly. “Although I don’t understand why—”

“Just don’t, mom. It’s enough that you’re doing this for me, I really think it would be a bad idea if she knew I’d put you up to this. And I don’t want reports on how her life is going. Christ,” Ben groaned.

Leia shrugged. “I'm not doing it for _you_. It’s what we do. I’m just glad you found her.”

It was true, his mother worked for a huge international women’s charity; she helped women get out of dangerous living situations every single day, and she'd helped Rey. She’d gone into that shit café and started a conversation with her; helped her get her own place, set up a restraining order, and now apply for further education.

“You should go back to college, too. Retrain, sweetie. You hated that job anyway.”

September

Ben slumped down into the plastic cafeteria chair and dumped his bag on the seat beside him. Why was he doing this to himself, again? He pulled his hood up over his head to block out some of the excited chatter coming from the other students.

He was a good ten years older than everyone else in his classes, and he felt the age difference when he saw the younger students horsing around between classes; having the kind of fun that he never had with his friends at their age.

_Well, you needed to actually have friends to do that shit, bonehead._

He poked at the limp sandwich on his plate, silently agreeing with his subconscious. At least he'd get out of here with a humanities degree and maybe the tools he needed to take his life in a different direction.

His bag fell onto the floor as someone snatched the chair from under it. Fucking students. “Hey! I was—"

“No eggs today?” Rey asked, plonking herself down in the now empty chair next to him.

“Rey...” He scratched his head, searching for something to say. The last time they’d seen each other had been a total disaster, and he'd left her trembling violently in back of an ambulance while he was hauled off in a police car. “I don’t know what to say,” he said, honestly. “I’m so sorry about what happened. I mean, I’m sorry for what I did.” _I’m sorry I did it in front of you._

“No you’re not,” she said, smirking at him. “You’re just sorry that I saw you doing it.”

Well, since she was apparently a mind reader, he saw no reason to deny it. He shrugged. “I guess so. How’s life? I see you’re in college now, what a coincidence.”

“Yeah... stuff got a lot better for me after... y’know.”

“After I caved your boyfriend's face in,” he deadpanned, taking a sip of his shitty vending machine coffee.

“Yeah,” she said, twiddling her thumbs on the table in front of her.

They sat in silence for a few more minutes. “Thanks for giving evidence for my case. You didn’t have to do that. It’s not like we're even friends or anything,” he murmured.

“We're friends.” Her tone brooked no argument. “You gonna eat that?”

Ben pushed his uneaten sandwich over to her. “Be my guest.”

She snatched the sandwich off the plate and took a big mouthful. “I like this new look by the way,” she said through her mouthful of food. “You look great in a suit, but I prefer the hoodie and jeans. I like the beard.”

October

“—so then Poe said, ‘you know he’s only hanging out with you because he wants to get into your pants, right?’ and I was so angry!” Rey ranted as they walked together towards the train station. “Like, he knows literally nothing about our relationship; you know what I said?”

Ben clenched his jaw. Fucking _Poe_. Who the fuck did he think he was? Ben wanted to punch him. How dare he crap all over his friendship with Rey? His _only_ friendship. “I don’t know, Rey. What did you say?”

“I just told him the truth; that we both want to get into each other’s pants, and that’s kind of our thing, y'know? We dance around it, cause we know that the first time we fuck is gonna be phenomenal after all this unresolved sexual tens—Ben?”

Ben had stopped in his tracks at her casual words. What the fuck? She... she wanted to get into his pants? “You want to get into my pants?”

Rey shrugged and nodded. “Well, obviously.”

“Can I kiss you?” Ben croaked. “Right now?”

She narrowed her eyes at him and crossed her arms, biting her bottom lip to hide a smile. Fuck. “Hmmm. I guess... maybe? If you want to.”

Oh, he fucking wanted to. He dropped his bag on the pavement and stomped over to her in three strides, grasping the tops of her arms gently and crushing their lips together.

Sweet release.

November

“You what?” Rey asked breathlessly, pulling his head back by his hair.

“I came in my pants when I was eating you out,” Ben forced himself to repeat.

“Ben!” she cackled. “What the fuck?!”

He ducked his head back down and hid his face between her naked breasts. _So soft._ How was this his life. “You were the one who insisted on waiting all this time—I'm not superman, Rey. It’s been a while for me. Hearing you getting off like that...”

She laughed again and her tits jiggled. Ben groaned as his dick came back to life between them.

“You know what, forget I said anything. Let’s do this,” he said, leaning back onto his knees and pulling his pants and boxers down far enough to free himself.

Her laughter dissolved into a wanton moan as he pushed his freshly hard cock into her throbbing pussy.

“Fuck, Rey,” he groaned. “I wanted this for so—ah—so long... I need to fuck you hard, tell me if I hurt you.”

She wrapped her legs around his waist, drawing him closer. “Do it. I need it, too. I trust you,” she gasped.

He nodded and thrust into her roughly, angling her hips towards him with one hand. “I’ll never fucking hurt you,” he grunted between thrusts. “I fucking cherish you.”

December

“Are you angry?” Ben asked quietly.

Rey sat cross legged on the floor beside the plastic Christmas tree in the living room of his apartment. She fidgeted with the ribbon on the top of her unopened gift. “So... what, you sent your mum to Plutt’s to rescue me or something?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t know what else to do. I needed to know you were safe.”

“Why didn’t you just come see me yourself?”

“I didn’t wanna scare you. You told me to leave that day... I wanted to respect your boundaries. But my mom... she helps women in your situation for a living—helps them get their independence back. I didn’t think I would be able to do that. I would’ve asked you to move in with me, probably—right after attacking someone in front of you; right after _you_ got attacked. You needed to be in control of your own life.”

“Why are you telling me this now?” she asked, her eyes firmly set on the floor.

“I thought you might wanna come with me to my parents place... for Christmas dinner, today? I figured it would be better for us to have this awkward discussion now, rather than when we turn up and you recognise my mom.” He cringed internally, bracing himself for her reaction.

She sniffed, pulling her knees into her chest and tucking her face behind them. “Thank you.”

Ben crossed the room and dropped down onto the floor next to her, wrapping his arms around her. “Thank _you_ for being okay with this. And I’m sorry.” _Sorry for keeping it from you. Definitely not sorry for doing it._

“No you’re not,” she said wetly, a tearful smile playing on her lips. “You’re just sorry you didn’t tell me about it sooner.”

“How the fuck do you do that?” he chuckled, nuzzling her hair.

“Your face doesn’t really keep your thoughts hidden very well.” She kissed him softly on the cheek. “So, what time are we going?”

“No rush, we can go whenever.” He pulled her into his lap, and trailed kisses down her neck to her delicate collarbone. “So, if you can read me so easily, you must already know that I’m in love with you, huh?”

Rey hummed appreciatively. “Would it be weird for me to say I’ve known for a long time? Probably since you nearly asked me out on Valentine’s day.”

He paused in the action of unbuttoning her pyjama top, and looked back up at her eyes. “You knew even then?”

She nodded. “But honestly, I wasn’t in a good place at that time, and it was... a lot.”

“But it’s not a lot now?”

She combed her fingers through his hair, tucking it behind one of his ears. “It is, but I’m ready for it.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Tag yourself--I'm an aging reylo in the café
> 
> Come and say hi on [Tumblr](https://situation-normal.tumblr.com/)


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